I often think of my screen porch as akin to a wide-screen, surround sound TV featuring continuous nature programming. In high summer, the hummingbirds are starring in an endless stream of cameo appearances and highly dramatic combat footage.

The lore surrounding these pinkie-sized birds is all very sweet and romantic. The Aztec say the god of music and poetry assumed the form of a hummingbird and descended into the underworld to make love with a goddess, who then gave birth to the first flower. Nice, no?

In reality, these are solitary, curmudgeonly birds that give no quarter when it comes to their brethren. There is no such thing as a “pair” of hummingbirds – except for the deed itself, they have no use for one another. Mothers will even compete with their young for food once they have left the nest.

At highly valued sources like hummingbird feeders, no one really gets along. They commonly attack one another, chittering indignantly and flying at rivals even to the point of violent mid-air collision. Think of tiny helicopters that can morph into needle-nosed fighter planes, chasing one another at speeds of 25 to 30 miles an hour, and you’ll have some idea of the aerial acrobatics going on outside my screen porch.

The only common hummingbird in our part of the country is the ruby-throated hummingbird, so named for the prismatic band of feathers at the male’s throat which, if caught by the light at the right angle, flashes a brilliant ruby red.

The birds generally show up in New Jersey in late April and stay until mid-September before heading to wintering grounds in central Mexico, Panama and the Caribbean. That’s a flight of some 2,000 miles including a non-stop leg over the Gulf of Mexico, which says something about the toughness of these tiny critters.

After 10 or more years of maintaining an al fresco dining establishment for the little hummers, I have constant traffic at my feeders, which are hung from the eaves just outside my screens. But the key to setting out the welcome mat for hummers isn’t limited to hanging nectar-filled feeders. Habitat is important and I have what it takes – plentiful deciduous trees overhanging a lawn (and stream) for nesting sites and dense evergreens for protected roosts at night and in bad weather.

Plus, I have an abundance of natural food sources including native trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), phlox, lavender, lilies, nasturtiums, salvias and the wild impatiens known as jewel weed along the stream. From time to time when there’s a blue plate special blooming in the yard, feeder traffic slackens – and that’s just fine. During nesting season, too, females can be scarce as they seek out tiny bugs and spiders to serve a high protein diet to their young.

Except for urban areas and immediately along the coast, where tree cover is rare, hummers are likely to be around in the summer, investigating with extreme tenacity every potential source of food. If you’d like to hang a feeder to attract them for close-up viewing, here are my tips:

Choose a small feeder since nectar must be kept fresh lest it ferment or develop mold. I like the Perky Pet pinch-waist 8-ounce glass feeder with four flower-shaped feeding ports, consistently favored by my birds. It doesn’t leak (a common failing), it comes apart for cleaning, it has bee guards on the ports to keep wasps from moving in. It’s cheap -- $15 or less -- at amazon.com or New Jersey Audubon centers, listed at njaudubon.org.

It’s more productive at first to maintain feeders at the beginning and end of the season, when the hummers arrive hungry from their flight north or are bulking up for their migration south. The last week of April through mid-May and the last week of August through mid-September is prime time for beginners. Hanging some red ribbons from nearby fences, shrubs or eaves can help direct birds to your feeder.

Nectar is easily made from four parts tap water and one part ordinary table sugar, heated briefly in the microwave. Store the excess in the refrigerator – I use an empty water bottle. Buy a small bottle brush for cleaning the feeder. Don’t use soap (too hard to rinse completely) but rather soak the disassembled feeder in a hot water-white vinegar solution to clean it. Replace uneaten fluid every third or fourth day in hot weather.

Choose a spot for your feeder where you can easily see it from the house, porch or patio. Stand watch when feeding is mostly likely – early in the morning and the last hour of daylight, which I call “hummer hour.” When the birds show up, the fun begins. I think it’s better than cartoons – I think you’ll agree.